Getting down to earth in the other hi-tech jobs of the future

Starry eyed plans for a future in space are exciting, but South Australians could also be thinking about getting their hands dirty in more down-to-earth gigs.

Science and agriculture are merging at a dizzying speed, and more and more farmers and graziers are incorporating hi-tech into everyday life on the land according to Thomas Elder Institute head Dr Michael Wilkes.

Dr Wilkes, who’s helmed the institute for the past two years, said rapid developments in the digital sphere were changing the face of farming in South Australia.

Everything from monitoring water levels in troughs to weighing cattle remotely to mapping paddocks to optimise yields – jobs that once chewed up hours or even days – are now available to anyone with a smartphone.

For Dr Wilkes, there’s never been a more exciting time to be involved in agribusiness.

“The tech is becoming easier to use and more accepted, and the requirements for data recording, measuring efficiency and looking back retrospectively are becoming greater to either improve performance or for traceability and accountability perspectives,” he said.

Mark Allison, managing director and CEO of Elders. Picture: Daniel Purvis

Dr Wilkes said, like most industries, the reduction of carbon was becoming increasingly key to successful agriculture.

“Undoubtedly the carbon farming space is exciting, and that’s going to be a huge growth area. Whether it’s about reducing environmental impacts or improving efficiencies, it’s going to be a good metric that allows market access and allow premium prices,” he said.

“And in the broader ag-tech space we’re seeing more and more people becoming aware of it, more initiatives to improve the adoption of those technologies as it becomes cheaper and more streamlined.

“Remote water monitoring, soil moisture probes, digital farm management systems – they’re all game changers.”

Dr Wilkes said much of the research changing the face of agriculture in South Australia was coming out of the Struan Research Centre in the state’s South-East.

He said the Thomas Elder Institute, in collaboration with government departments, had been working to transform Struan into a best-practice demonstration farm.

“It’s a real farm where people can come and see, feel and touch the technology that could be incorporated into their farms,” Dr Wilkes said.

And the good news for young South Australians, Dr Wilkes said, was that the industry was crying out for good people.

“There’s a suite of avenues to getting involved – technology, production, agronomy – but really it’s about making yourself as aware of the industry as you can and finding the sector that interests you,” he said.

‘We’re coming into a real sweet spot’

Mark Allison says the fortunes of Elders over its 183 years of existence have been a bit like the agricultural industry it serves – full of soaring highs mixed with some crushing lows.

The lowest ebb for the South Australian company came, the CEO said, came in the early 2010s when Elders had a market cap of “around 50 or 60 million dollars”.

That valuation now sits just shy of two billion dollars, a fact Mr Allison puts down largely to fact that the company’s staff and the farmers and graziers they serve never gave up on the business.

“We’ve had similar ups and downs, similar expansions and contractions the agriculture – but it’s been quite an honour to lead it through its most recent period,” he said.

“It’s a great story of resilience and getting back to basics, which was being a South Australian agriculture company.”

Now that Elders has weathered the storm, Mr Allison said the company was perfectly positioned to help usher in an era of technology and development he described as “extremely exciting”.

He said the combination the improvement of the digital infrastructure in regional Australia, along with a growing ease with technology, meant that hi-tech solutions to age-old problems were becoming commonplace.

“Combine that with the fact that regional and rural Australia is awash with money means that there’s likely to be a quantum jump in practical and viable new technologies that will also have a big component of sustainability,” he said.

“It’s very exciting, I think we’re coming in to a real sweet spot.”

And South Australia is perfectly poised, he said, to leverage this technology to continue to feed a growing world population.

“The South Australian story is one of being clever and focused,” Mr Allison said.

“SA has unique climatic advantages for growing crops like wheat and barley, but there’s a huge opportunity to use our environment to grow a greater volume of pulse legumes to provide plant-based protein for a growing protein need in the world.”

Working down to earth

Beth Sleep loves dirt.

The 26-year-old agronomist and soil consultant likes nothing more than applying science to help farmers unlock the potential of their paddocks.

“Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there,” Ms Sleep said.

“There could be huge potential – we just have to find it. It’s my passion, it’s what I really enjoy doing.”

The Elders employee who earned a Bachelor of Agricultural Science before completing her Honours in Advances Soil Science, is part of the new face of agronomy in South Australia which is increasingly young and, in many cases, female.

As agriculture and science become increasingly intermeshed, and the global demand for food and other farm products grows, more young people are pursuing a life on the land after university.

Young Agronomist Beth Sleep testing soil samples in Jamestown. Picture: Simon Cross

Ms Sleep admits that agronomy hasn’t traditionally been seen as a typical career for young women.

“Mum used to question me about why I was outside looking at dirt,” she laughed.

“But this is a lifestyle as much as a career.”

Ms Sleep, who grew up on the family farm in the Mid North, said she was drawn to the job from a young age.

“I love my role because I get to build strong relationships with the growers I work with,” she said.

“I also love my office, which is generally a paddock and open spaces with amazing landscapes. I enjoy watching the paddocks I manage slowly improve year on year. My client’s wins also feel like personal wins. Whether that’s simply controlling a weed problem, increasing productivity or a good harvest.”

It’s an attitude reflected by Zoe Fulton, a graduate agronomist taking part in the Elders Graduate Program.

Agronomist Beth Sleep testing soil samples at Jamestown. Picture: Simon Cross

“The ability to move around the state and the country and learn about all aspects of agronomy is another great aspect of the job,” Ms Fulton said.

“There are not many positions available straight out of study that allow you to travel and see as much as the Elders Program provides.”

Riley Stasinowsky, part of the Elders Livestock Trainee program, also loves the fact his role allows him to get some dirt on his boots.

“I love the role because I get to see many different areas of livestock in my region, and it also gives me the opportunity to go help out in other locations when needed,” he said.

“Having a farming background has definitely helped me as I already had a passion for livestock and I can relate to other farmers in conversation.”

Work at home among the gum trees

Alex Van Schaik has traded a busy office in the Adelaide CBD for a room in a 100-year-old home in the tiny Yorke Peninsula town of Maitland, and she couldn’t be happier.

The 35-year-old marketing and events co-ordinator for Elders Real Estate is one of a legion of South Aussies who discovered during Covid that working from home was a viable alternative.

But Mrs Van Schaik took it one step further by relocating to the quaint Yorke Peninsula farming community with her husband Joe, who grew up in the town.

It’s a trend that has the potential to breathe new life into South Australia’s regional areas, which have suffered in recent years from population decline because of factors like agricultural developments which have seen farms increase in size.

Where four families once lived there is often now one, affecting everything from health services and schools to football and netball teams.

Alex Van Schaik from Elders in Maitland with her husband Joe and their dogs Bungy and Lacey. Picture: Simon Cross

“When Joe and I got together we did a year’s long distance, then he moved to Adelaide,” Mrs Van Schaik said.

“The plan was to stay in Adelaide, but then in 2020 we reassessed some of our goals. Joe had always wanted to start his own plumbing and tiling business, and all his contacts were here on the Yorke Peninsula.

“Due to Covid I had been working from home anyway, so when I went to management and asked if it would be possible to do my job from here they said go for it. It’s been 12 months now.”

Mrs Van Schaik said she did miss Elders’ busy Grenfell St head office, where she worked with around 200 colleagues, but that the plusses of relocating to the Yorke Peninsula far outweighed the minuses.

“I do miss the office and that camaraderie you get from your teammates, but I can go to the Maitland Elders office if I need to and we have a lot of Teams meeting,” she said.

“But the thought of being able to raise a family with plenty of open space, kids being able to ride their bikes down the street and walk to school was also something that’s very important to us both and something you don’t really get back in suburbia these days.

“Being able to be outdoors with so much to see and do here is another huge positive.”

For Joe, the move has been equally rewarding with jobs booked into 2023 and plans to expand his business.